A couple of weeks ago AOL posted the results of a poll where members were asked about their least favorite foods. Over 78,000 people participated in this survey. The top twenty disliked foods were determined not only by number of responders who mentioned the food, but also the vitriolic content of their comments. I'm listing the top twenty foods along with comments from the poll.
How many of these are on your list of least favorite foods?
20) Blueberries – "Blueberries taste a little like aluminum to me."
19) Maple Syrup – "Just a whiff of maple syrup and I get nauseous."
18) Cilantro – "Just the smell and taste make me ill."
17) Onions – "Raw onions. Yuck. Yuck. Yuck.,"
16) Cooked Carrots – "Raw is fine, but cooked should be illegal."
15) Raisins – "Raisins cooked into a dish remind me of roaches from my old apartment."
14) Peas – "They smell like somebody who hasn't had a bath for a week."
13) Oysters – "Anything chewy that never breaks down like clams or oysters, yuck!"
12) Pea Soup – "Blechh! Split pea soup makes me gag."
11) Sour Cream – "It's like expired chunky milk, I have to hold my nose and look away."
10) Gelatin – "I can't stand to eat Jell-O with the way it wiggles around in my mouth."
09) Tuna – "The smell of it makes me sick."
08) Brussels Sprouts – "Nasty tasting things, but when you eat them cold after having been overcooked, they're even worse."
07) Beets – "They look like they'd be good, but the taste is just vile."
06) Okra – "Okra releases a funky slime when not fried, smells like a gym locker, too."
05) Eggs – "I can't get a hard boiled egg down. The yolk is no problem, but the consistency of the white part makes me turn green."
04) Mushrooms – "Mushrooms taste like dirt."
03) Mayonnaise – "Mayo is the most disgusting substance on the face of this earth. It reeks."
02) Lima Beans – "Lima beans are evil."
01) Liver – "Just the smell of fried liver can make me have an autonomous near-hurl."
Some of the items on this list of twenty least favorite foods came as a surprise to me while others were expected. The one thing I found very interesting was how many times a poll responder gave smell as the reason for the food choice (eight of the top twenty). Smell does directly impact our sense of taste. If we hold our breath (or hold our noses) when putting a bite of food in our mouths, it doesn't have much of a taste without the smell. When you're sick or have a bad cold and your nose is stuffed up, you might try to eat but you find that the food doesn't have a taste.
I do want to point out that not even a hint of chocolate appeared on the list. And for that matter, wine wasn't on the list either. That means my favorite foods are safe! :)
What are your favorite and least favorite foods?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
18 comments:
Asparagus!!!! Yuck, yuck, yuck! When I was a kid, my uncle offered me $5 to eat a piece (and this was back when $5 was significant!) but I refused. The smell makes me want to hurl!
Favorite, well that's harder. But I guess I will go with a nice, thick, juicy, RARE steak. Sun-tanned on the outside, bright red in the middle. If it doesn't MOO when I stick a fork in it, it's overcooked. Yum!
Fun post! I was really surprised by some of the things on this list, but I do agree with smell being a factor for not liking something. I'd have to say that my least favorite food is any kind of sausage. My favorite would be pasta of any sort. Love those noodles!
Any kind of bean grosses me out. A casserole with beans in it. Ugh! They are slimy.
Favorite-cannoli Mmmmmmmm.
Jim: Ah...there's that small connection again. I've always kind of thought of asparagus and Brussel sprouts as being lumped together into one distasteful bunch. :)
Mary: ALL beans? There are so many different kinds of beans. Cannoli...anything Italian is on my favorites list.
Debra: Pasta!! There's that great Italian stuff, again. Yum!
It's raw onions for me. Love the smell, don't mind the taste, but the texture... Like fingernails on a chalkboard when I bite into them and chew.
Another is liver. Gross. Enough said.
My favorite? Chocolate, of course.
Becca
Becca: Raw onions! That's the exact same way I relate to biting into them...like fingernails on a chalkboard. I cook with onions, but can't handle them raw.
How odd that bluberries are on that list. They're a super food! SOOOO good for you.
I have to agree about the liver, though. Nasty.
Crystal: I was very surprised by the bluberries, too. They have lots of healthy properties.
I didn't like blueberries until I tried one off the bush. Oh man, like night and day. Now I buy them fresh and eat them like mad. : )
Liver... I still remember chewing one bite for what seemed like hours. I'm so glad they found out it wasn't good for you. (not that I'd eat it anyway)
My favorite? Coffee but I guess that's not really a food... Chocolate. ; )
I Like Most of the food on the list. Can't do peas, or oysters. Am allergic to peas, but oysters are just plain gross! I hate Okra!
My favorite food? Chocolate!
Lynne: That's the reaction I had to fresh pineapple. Canned pineapple and even "fresh" in the grocery store always tasted very acidic to me. But my first trip to Hawaii when I had pineapple picked ripened and fresh from the field, it was an entirely different taste.
Brenda: I think chocolate ends up on everyone's most favorite list. I know it's on mine. :)
Ihate lamb and will not have it in my kitchen. Now Chocolate is different..that stands alone as my favorite and in a department alone. I also love anything Italian. susan L.
Fish and any form of seafood are major no-nos on my menu. And it's the odor. Mushrooms do taste like dirt, but I love maple syrup, cilantro and onions, especially for cooking or on a burger.
Susan: YUM...I'm with you on Italian.
Marie-Nicole: I'm not big on seafood although I do like shrimp. Warm maple syrup smells so good.
Post a Comment